Who is Archimedes? Biography and Books

I think all of us heard about Archimedes and his famous principle that gave us trouble in middle school. It’s time to realize what role played the scientist in the fields of physics, mathematics, philosophy and more. So to find out more about him.

Archimedes studied in Alexandria, Egypt, where he met the great mathematicians Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes Dositheos of Pelusion. He died in 212 BC, during the Punic War, when Syracuse captured by the Romans led by General Marcus Claudius Marcellus. It said that Archimedes studied a mathematical diagram when a soldier came up to him to take him to the General, but he refused, saying it must first finish his job. The soldier became angry and killed Archimedes, whose last words were: “I do not bother circles”, referring to the diagram.

Archimedes made many contributions theoretical mathematics. It considered by some the best mathematician of antiquity entire period. For example, he used infinitesimals in a similar manner using integrals – they were not then known – to approximate the value of π, a result is a number between 3.1408 and 3.1429. He was right, the value of π is 3.1415. Let us now see some of his work focused on mathematics and what they consist of.
Another important treaty is “squaring parabola” ( “Tetragonismos paraboles“), written by Archimedes in the third century BC as a letter to his friend, Dositheus, comprising twenty-four theorems about parables.

Another interesting book is bold and even “The Sand Reckoner“. Archimedes wants to calculate how many grains of sand can fit in the known universe before. To do this, Archimedes had to estimate the size of the universe, relying on existing models at the time, but this is not the only problem. He also had to find a way to work with enormous numbers. Finally manages to enunciate a number equal to 1 followed by 800 zeros million, a much higher number than the grains of sand that would fit in the universe, which he estimated at 1051.

Another work Archimedes That WAS very proud of is “On sphere and cylinder,” Which is the why he Asked That His grave drawn two geometric figures. Archimedes Shows That the ratio of the area of ​​the circumscribed sphere, and the cylinder is equal to the ratio of the volumes of the two Bodies .

Archimedes wrote important works in physics, such as “On balance planes,” a work composed of two parts explaining the lever laws that were not formulated concrete before. It is also calculated the centre of gravity of geometric figures such as parallelogram, triangle or lever.

In his preface, “spirits”, Archimedes says that “many years have elapsed since Conon’s death.” Conon of Samos, a Greek astronomer, died in the year 220 BC, suggesting that some works were wrote when the Archimedes have old age. The most important job is still “On Floating Bodies” made up of two volumes. Here is formulated hydrostaticsprinciple that says that a body immersed in a fluid is pushed by fluid from the bottom up, with force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.

These are only some of the most important inventions of Archimedes, fertile imagination and brilliant mind helping him to create numerous other devices necessary in those days. I could see some of the contributions made by Archimedes in the development of science, he remains forever a formidable scholar, whose ingenuity cannot overlooked, and an example to follow.